Guild Wars 2

Its sad its only about ranger, because All class would need somes balance for the general gameplay..

About the ranger, just look at ALL the possibilities of the GW1 ranger

• for interrupt /
• spirit /
• condition control /
• condition damage /
• great survival ability /
• pet is NOT mendatory. Seriously, having to use pet is awfull.
• trap are great in GW1, unlike in GW2

IMO, you have problem because there is a lot of problem in the general GW2 gameplay

• stat linked to traits. As exemple i’am actualy playing elementalist, why, if i would like to be a “zerk” and mostly use earth magic i have to boost defence ? Many thing dont work. Too many useless traits, exemple as a thief somes shadows arts trait are nearly mandatory, over many other that have absolutely no use.
• Control skills, unlike in GW1 are pretty poorly used in GW2. Just look at the interrupt, without foe skill bar that’s most of the time a lucky shoot, no real control over the interrupt. That’s just dont work as it should be.
• As long as Anet dont want invest time to offer news weapons skills, and open the build diversity ( by changing weapons skills like we change utility ), to have different possible combo for weapons, nothing will evolve, whatever the little trait change – skill damage – combo – CD you are going to try.
• Dealay weapons switching while in combat ( or element switch for the ele ) should not exist, or only 1-2sec. Like many other gameplay aspect it prevent more freedom. For that just look at the engi that can switch between the different kit with only 0.5sec delay, that’s very nice and offer good possibilities unlike all others class.

So, its not possible to only speak about ranger without speaking of many problem in the GW2 gameplay.
——————————————————————————————————————————————

About Fractal

My main issue is your Agony resistance.
In fact, that’s just a gear check, that only requier many farm, many time to get, it have nothing to do with how smart the player is. And Agony bring nothing AT ALL gameplay side.
Basicly, since AR requier ascended stuff, and since ascended requier many time ( laurels for jewels ) or a fortune or a insane farm for the ascended armor – weapons its only reserved to a very minority hardcore farmer, and not really allow more casuals players to access higher lvl of difficulties.

Also, it stuck you with only one character, and one build.. able to enter high fractal lvl. which turn that quite boring.
That’s nearly the same problem as the one with the gear and stat in general ( suggestion made in that topic )

because personaly, having to farm months and waste hundred of gold just to have one character beeing able to play correctly into the lvl 30-39 and more.. just.. no thanks.

So i dont play anymore in fractale.

Allie Murdock.8152:

• In your feedback, please tell us what area of the game you play the most (PvE/WvW/sPvP).
  • If possible, include stats on how much you play in each of those areas too.
• Please include the profession you play the most, even if it isn’t Ranger.

I play mostly in WvW, 80% of my gameplay time,
Pve, only for the various dungeon to farm gold ( the game is forcing me to farm because of that gear system ^^ )

For the class, i play mesmer / neco / warrior / engi / thief / elmentalist.
I have a Ranger, but i stopped it at lvl 75 ( actualy, its just a material storage character ).. too desapointed after beeing used to the GW1 ranger.
I dont have “favorite” class, they offer a different gameplay so it depend of my mood.

I have to admit that, having to farm gear during weeks to try news builds dont motivate me.
Add to that fixed weapons skills, impossible to create new combo – gameplay dynamic except with few traits change ( or it change because of the runes – sigils and gear stat ) make each class limited and its boring quite fast.

A bit like playing magic the gathering only with the started build.. would you find that interesting durings months ?

Humble opinion of someone that spend 6years on GW1 doing tons of test builds.

@ETan, not sure I’d agree. While GW1’s gameplay was massively more complex, I never felt like it was much deeper. It was a teensy bit deeper, but the gargantuan amount of skills and combinations seemed to amount to relatively little, all things considered.

Considering what a giant roadblock it puts in front of newcomers, the GW2 setup seems better. It’s very easy to get someone to pick up the game, the PvE is very usable by players who have little RL time (people who work a lot or who have kids) because everything is bite-sized, yet at the same time I don’t feel like my Mesmer is any shallow as a character.

Sure I have a long list of improvements, but increasing complexity isn’t on them. GW2 is good for it’s relative simplicity IMO, should work on balance, bugs and depth. Not on sheer numbers.

E Tan.7385:

Its sad its only about ranger, because All class would need somes balance for the general gameplay..

• As long as Anet dont want invest time to offer news weapons skills, and open the build diversity ( by changing weapons skills like we change utility ), to have different possible combo for weapons, nothing will evolve, whatever the little trait change – skill damage – combo – CD you are going to try.
• Dealay weapons switching while in combat ( or element switch for the ele ) should not exist, or only 1-2sec. Like many other gameplay aspect it prevent more freedom. For that just look at the engi that can switch between the different kit with only 0.5sec delay, that’s very nice and offer good possibilities unlike all others class.

So, its not possible to only speak about ranger without speaking of many problem in the GW2 gameplay.

Although the classes are not evenly balanced at all, I still have to thank Anet for the amazing updates they add every other week. With that said though, does not mean I think they should ignore unmistakably bad classes and definitely should put more work into fixing classes rather than buffing and nerfing them.

Now onto the quote above. I definitely agree with these two paragraphs. The first one would be cool if they allowed players to change skills on the “Weapons” themselves. My point being, a warrior could have different skills using a greatsword than another warrior. Would be an interesting direction to try.

Secondly, weapon switching. The weapon is right on your back, or in our case back pocket. We can take time to fall back and heal during combat but we can’t switch weapons without waiting for 5-6 seconds? Not sure if the time is right. I just know it takes a long time. Would be nice to see it shortened a bit.

Lastly, every class could use a change or fix. I would love to see every class receive new skills and traits while keeping the previous ones they had, with the exception of ranger. I am not a fan at all of their skills and traits. It would open a huge window for players and it would be nice to see different spell and skill effects in combat.

Carighan.6758:

@ETan, not sure I’d agree. While GW1’s gameplay was massively more complex, I never felt like it was much deeper. It was a teensy bit deeper, but the gargantuan amount of skills and combinations seemed to amount to relatively little, all things considered.

Since its out of topic, i will answer into a spoiler, to avoid “polute” the thread

Would you say that GW1 was as marketable a game as GW2 is? (considering that GW2 is one of the most successful MMOs to date)

The part about complexity was specifically because the issue in GW1 was that there was too much and too little clear use. Too many skills, too many ways to set up your skills, for VERY few viable ways to do it. GW2 cut down on this – or at least I assume it did – to increase the baseline viability of any setup. You can’t make your character as bad as you could in GW1.

Plus, the whole amount of combinations and all, it makes people not be interested in the game. Sure, for a dedicated loyal playerbase it’s amazing, but it’s not useful to bind a large amount of players out of the entire pool of MMO players. In addition to that, “MMO players” is a lot more people when GW2 released than when GW1 released. The types of players taking a look at your game (and how many they are) is different.

Now ofc, GW2 has tons of issues. But do you really think that GW1 with a newer graphics engine, released when GW2 did, would have 10% the players GW2 has, by now?

Erro.2784:

ilr.9675:

It’s just another hard control that takes “skill” out of the equation, often in a setting that was already purely participation/population based. And that’s the OPPOSITE of what we want as players who enjoy the ability survive and even win when fairly outnumbered.

Hard control with no dps, does not take skill out of the equation. Setting up the ranger to compliment other classes is exactly what this game is about: team play. Its about creating proper synergy between classes and rewarding working as a team, rather than bringing more numbers to a fight.

right well, you can keep repeating that all you want, but it doesn’t change the fact that your suggested method accomplishes the exact opposite of your intent, and needs to be polished more to allow for a “Soft control” solution instead. Bonus points if you can do it using the Conditions that already exist instead of inventing up a new one that could have far-reaching unintended consequences

WvW: What aspects of Edge of The Mists do you think could carry over to the rest of WvW and how?

Map! This is exactly the kind of map I was missing in W3: roaming friendly, with choke points to disperse zergs and with lots of places to hide and ambush people from. Combine that with more than one vital choke point in the middle to allow more than one path to enemy keep and I’d be happy.
Fast-paced fights and control-for-resources BOs were a good thing as well (instead of escorting missions)

-
-

Bonus: Global: Professions: How would you like to see us evolve Ranger balance?

I will refrain myself from theory crafting since there are people out there with a better grasp on this (evidence found in ranger forums)

Area I play the most: PvE. Even though I come from hardcore oPvP guild I just don’t feel w3 in this game. Too many classes doing the same and trying to dish out huge numbers in close combat while rolling left and right – with abandoning the Trinity class niches dissolved into one huge mdps blob.
I enjoyed Edge of the Mists so much tho that it made me come back to w3 but mdps meta is making it a tedious experience.
PvE: 70%
W3: 15%
sPvP: 15%

Class I play the most: at the moment it’s the Ranger. I went from engie to thief to ele to warrior, necro and ranger. Had mesmer and guardian but deleted them
Basically I play rdps classes in game which does not support rdps.

Classes I enjoyed the most: ele, ranger, engie and necro. Thief in sPvP before it became OP.

-
-
-

My thoughts on ranger balance:

- redo class mechanic from the scratch. Atm it’s neither an archer nor pet tamer.

.- pets are unreliable and the fact that roughly 30% of damage comes from a faulty mob-driven AI makes the class weaker than any other out there.
Since it’s impossible at the moment for pets AI to be redone enable rangers to roam without them and tie dmg buff to something other.

.- traits need to be looked at and redone. At the moment traits do not support build versatility and force players into two viable builds.

.- condition cleansing cannot rely on faulty pet mechanic.

.- “unparalleled archers” in a game that does not support rpds is a joke. But what makes it a sad joke is that warriors are better archers than rangers. Thieves are better at it too.
Define the role of a ranger in game because right now the class can try to do what all others are doing but not be a master of anything (even the famed “range damage”).
Buff rdps and redo bow skills / damage to give some diversity in ways of playing. There is an unparalleled mdps class out there already: warrior. Hell, there’s even unparalleled rdps class out there as well and it’s warrior as well… Give rangers a niche to shine in (same goes for other classes but I digress).

Everything else, be it new pets or new weapons, until above issues are resolved, is just cosmetics in my opinion.

Allie Murdock.8152:

Hey everyone,

Thanks for the feedback so far! I have some requests:

• Please keep the feedback focused on Ranger.
• In your feedback, please tell us what area of the game you play the most (PvE/WvW/sPvP).
  • If possible, include stats on how much you play in each of those areas too.
• Please include the profession you play the most, even if it isn’t Ranger.
• Most importantly, Pleased keep your feedback as concise as possible. Using special formatting is really nice if your post is a long one.

Thanks,

Allie

area of game i play most and stats:
since release i only play tpvp in decent teams, my main profession is the ranger and the second profession is the guardian. i played 4121 tournament games, 2398 with ranger and 1668 with guardian. at all i have 3456 pvp games on ranger, my first build was trapper ranger pretty fast after the beta, then beastmaster ranger and now the spirit ranger. my pvp stats: i was rank 85 on qualipoint ladder, rank ~15 in the teamque ladder and rank "somewhere" in the mighty soloq ladder

my feedback:

weapon skills:

longbow:

the weapon skills itself, not only the damage feels rly bad.
the main problem when you run longbow is the survive. when enemy players decide to attack you, you have rly low survive and cant rly do dmg in this time.
i think the longbow rly need a skill rework, not only dmg changes.

skill1: always same decent dmg
skill2: 1 arrow shot with much dmg, if attack in stealth more dmg, in stealth from behind it also daze
skill3: same like now but combinate it with skill 4 (but just a short range knock) and give swiftness to player aswell
skill4: new skill: press first time huge dodge backwards, press again go in stealth and blind narly enemys with blindfield (animation is throw a smoke granade on rangers postion)
skill5: you can run when cast barrage, it fires 5 arrows with decent dmg, 1 arrow to your target and 4 arrows to nearly enemys. the target get cripled. if you do this skill in stealth the target get root

if you play longbow ranger, in my mind it should be something like backstab thief gameplay

longsword:

this weapon also have to less survive, to slow and easy to see attack animations (maul) and well, it dont feels like a ranger weapon atm, more like a slow warrior weapon.
i think this weapon should feel like medieval longsword fighting, so it should feel fast like this :P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjT4JepA-Vc
so i think this also need a skill rework and not only dmg changes.

skill1: should be same, but a bit faster
skill2: same animation like maul, but a bit faster and without bear animation.
this skill have rly high dmg and is blast finisher.
skill3: step sideward (dodge) and attack with decent dmg
skill4: block like now arrows and melee, if block melee it knocks the enemy down with a faster animation then atm and decent dmg. if you press the skill twice then you do the skill swoop like it is now in the game but with cripple if it hits in front. if it hits behind it knocks the enemy.
skill5: step sideward (dodge) and daze, so its like the old skill but with dodge. but it needs more range to use it effective when you whant interrupt enemeys

shortbow:

i think its in a good place right now,
but if you compare elexier cannon on engi, this one can stack more bleeding on auto attack without need to attack from behind, just saying

main hand axe:

the auto attack of this one need a improve,
the rest is pretty good

dagger:

is fine in my mind

sword:

is fine in my mind,
maybe the auto attack need some improve

off hand axe:

skill4: is fine
skill5: is fine, but there should a option to active this skill twice.
activate this skill first its the actual effect, press the skill again it should knock the enemy back and blast finish, or maybe only blast finish. but there should be a option to press this skill 2 times, because theres much situations you have to interrupt your own skill if enemys go melee vs you.

well thats my mind on weapons atm.
maybe there are some good ideas to pick out.

pets:

i think there should be pets with
-give the pet and the ranger invis when press f2
-heal the pet and the ranger when press f2
-remove conditions from ranger and pet when press f2
-use a attack with blast finisher if you press f2
-defend the ranger if you press f2

i also think we should be able to use at least 2 of the pet skills by ourself not only 1
AND the pets need to cast the f2 skills INSTANT, how often i need a wolf fear NOW but my wolf is running around and dont whant to start the fear, gg

utilitys:

shouts: well, sry but i think all of them need to be removed and new ones need to be created

traps: i also think all of them need to become a combo field
spike trap: maybe a blind field or if not the trap should have torment
frost trap: well it should at least deal dmg per second or anything, this trap was and is the “4. trap” nobody use
fire trap: i think this one is the only trap wich is fine atm
viper nest: maybe combo field poison, but the ranger have so much poison on condi builds, im not sure this is a must have
maybe this trap should be the trap with torment?

spirits:
well they are in a not bad place right now.
but FIRST pls finaly fix one bug on all spirits, even the rez spirit.
the spirits rly dont cast there active skills much times.
they just dont start the animations, we lose to much times teamfights just because my rez spirit dont start his animations, or my sun spirit dont start the animation for blind when i whant stomp in a 1vs1…
and remove this 1 second cooldown after i cast my spirits, you called it bugfix, but the bug still exist.
at least, i think the frost spirit need some improve, nobody use it
i think i should chill insteald 10% more dmg each 10 secs

traits:

well there you should rly rly keep an eye on it, and rly offer much time to fix this issues…
theres more then 50% of traits rly useless or rly in the wrong traitline!

just some examples…

the trap traits:
why they are in skirmishing master tier and grandmaster tier?!
i think they should be in wildnes survival adept and master tier
or they should be in marksmanship adept and master tier.
also there need to be at least 3 or 4 traits for trapper ranger

empathic bond:
i think this one should be a wildnes survival master tier.
i also think there should be a new trait in any other traitline for power rangers
which add condi remove to some skills.
or maybe a trait which add condi remove to all survival utility skills.
or a trait which add condi remove to all signets when you use them active.
or a trait which add condi remove on some weapon skills.
something like this to add active condi cleanse on ranger builds.

beastmaster traitline:
there need to be more traits for beastmaster offensive and deffensive players.
maybe something what adds more effects on the f2 skill and such things.
tratis which add more effects on shouts and and

well that was my ideas, im not a game designer so its your job to improve the ranger , gl and pls do it finaly, pls!

at least, thats for all professions, we need a timer to see the cooldown of our passive skills.
i whant to see when empatic bond is rdy, i also whant to see when shared anguish, hide in plain sight or even oakheard salve is rdy again

edit: i saw something about the new elites. pls dont let it be true that this one is the new ranger elite… Oo

i forget healing skills and sigils:
healing skills:
healing as one need a improve, just nobody use it.
maybe add a dodge like the thief heal there.

sigils:
sigils are not in a rly bad place.
but the most sigils actives are not interestig enough to waste the passive of the sigil.

question:

1. Will every profession eventually have a CDI thread? (Probably in order of highest to lowest votes)

Every profession sub forum has plenty intelligent discussion, by players who know the ins and outs of the profession, in all game-modes. Some also know enough about the other profession’s balance, and how they are all relative to each other.

I feel like devs are missing out on these discussions. If we get some sort of ‘warning’ about an upcoming CDI, we could for example make a list of important subjects, and different oppinions on it. The dev would have to potentially spend less time on that CDI, and have more time left for other stuff.

TL;DR: CDI topics for all professions would be nice.

Hello,

I have some issues with my main ranger, you’ve probably heard of pets having slow response, not landing attacks and F2 skill cancelling alot, Pets that boon you (Jungle stalker for example) will run to the enemy when you hit F2.

But I wanna talk about Signets. We shouldn’t have to trait for the signets to affect the ranger as well. It should be the other way around trait for the signet to affect the pet also and not trait to affect you also. signets on other classes affect them directly on active. Also mentioning that it requires 30 is too steep. I play PVE and WvW I trait 30-20-20 I run GS for defensive and counter in wvw. I can do well in dungeons and speed runs but wvw is a bit harder it’s especially hard with the longbow as the attack is very slow without quickness and rapid fire easily side stepped. Personally I loved running the thief better in wvw, I can help better with spamming blast finishers, stealth people and also fight better.

Why do i have the feeling that Anet is going to make the same mistake twice and over buff another class into insane levels…

especially with some of these suggestions.

Allie Murdock.8152:

Hey everyone,

We tallied your votes, and Ranger came out on top. As such, we will have our first profession CDI focused on areas you would like to see the Ranger evolve in.

Thanks for voting!

Hmm, I find it somehow confusing, how you put the same thread into each section of the game, close the thread in the general discussion area and let the other threads open…

Missed due to this the voting, because I thought, the general thread would get updated.

However.. today is monday. so i hope we will see soon the related CDI Threads for all of the topics so that the official discussions can start.

I’d like ranger to evolve into a class that can dodge while auto-attacking.

And in the WvW version of the thread just gets strealth implemented a postign of Chris, that the threads got deleayed to get posted just on Wednessday ..

coincidence???

So no reason to wait on them anymore today…

The reason is this round of threads is supposed to actually come with a primer and some readiness to participate on the part of the Devs… and they’re clearly distracted by something. I’d rather wait 48 hours for clear weather and a clean lift off than to flub the launch.

1. Increase pet speed.
2. Reduced AOE damage by 20% default; +30% with trait.
3. Pet F2 abilities are instant.
4. Put Pets into a class system: Birds/Cats = DPS, Spiders/Dogs/Devourers = Utility, Bear/Drake/Boar = Tank.
5. Rework F2 abilities by pet class:
DPS: Every 4th attack you & your pet bleed your target. Activation of F2 teleports pet to foe and applies 5 stacks of bleeding.
Utility: Everything 6th attack you apply cripple (X sec) on your enemy. Activation of F2 immobilizes your foe for X sec.
Tank: Every 5th attack you grant protection (X sec) to nearby allies. Activation of F2 grants X sec of stability to nearby allies.
6. Rework the species traits to make them more interesting.
7. Rework spirits to be similar to Warrior Banners but still different. Banners are great in Dungeons/Fractals, if spirits were of worth on par to banners Rangers would have more respect in providing worthwhile buffs.
8. Allow movement while casting Longbow 5.
9. Remove the damage decrease at close range on Longbow; no other class has to deal with this.

These are some area’s I could suggest… There are many ways to rework pets. I’d still like the pet to be saved but not for us to be penalized by problems outside of our control. More thought needs to be put into it, I think putting them into a class system will give both the player and the Devs a framework to go off of with pets.

Please seriously look at reducing the need to GM traits to use utilities. No other class is SO dependant of having GM traits to use utilities and its the #1 problem for build diversity. What you did with spirits (swaping the traits round) was good, but going further and merging traits/simply removing them and adding them as base functionallity would be much better in the case of traps/signets/shouts.

Traits should enhance utilities, not make them viable.

Ragnar.1546:

9. Remove the damage decrease at close range on Longbow; no other class has to deal with this.

Mesmer greatsword auto attack is the same deal. As is Warrior harpoon gun. Ranger #2 harpoon gun also does more bleeding the farther away you are. So there are other examples of this occurring.

Since I agree with the vast majority of this author’s post and am coming from similar background of years in GW1 I will simply add short lists that are from my personal PoV.

E Tan.7385:

Its sad its only about ranger, because All class would need somes balance for the general gameplay..

Please refer to original post due to reply lenght limitations,

#Agree that all classes need to be fixed and made more robust but as the ranger is truely in worst shape (followed closely by necro, ele, guardian – all for different reasons) will use the ranger as an example:
*skills 1-4 need to unlinked from weapons where they can or have another skill tree to build onto for example skill 3 could have an option for “poison arrow”
*skill 5 needs “buffing” to make class more durable since you are decreasing “vigor” across all classes
*skills 6-9 need major reworking as the skill tree is redundant and does not allow rangers to become experts in anything:

1. Archers: why not add more archery skills in the skill lines for slots 6-9 for this class (short bow – personal PoV – does the class an injustice). In part this appears due to fact that GW1 skills were reassigned to the warrior.
2. Trappers: more traps and allow them to stack, ie, vipers plus dust…and do away with poorly used spirits (not viable in boss battle where traps would be).
3. Tamers: the shouts for the most part take the place of real skills on the tree and control of pets is very poor. They need to be more like they were in GW1. Only playable one is search and rescue.
4. Duelest (;ong sword and great sword): add “short sword/dagger” off hand and again add skill in slots 1-4 that can be changed “counter-thrust” and traits in 6-9 that support this style of play.
5. Elites that fit not just the race (ie Norn Ursan warrior should not overlap Norn ranger)

I hope that provides some scope. (PS. Guardians suffer from a redundency of skill in slots 6-9)

About Fractal ……..
So i dont play anymore in fractale.

I have never finished a fractal ever and never will as these are in my PoV “arcade” elements added into an RPG. For many reason’s I cannot play the console “arcade theme” so everything there is PERMANENTLY out of reach for me.

Allie Murdock.8152:

• In your feedback, please tell us what area of the game you play the most (PvE/WvW/sPvP).
  • If possible, include stats on how much you play in each of those areas too.
• Please include the profession you play the most, even if it isn’t Ranger.

E Tan.7385:

I play mostly in WvW, 80% of my gameplay time,
Pve, only for the various dungeon to farm gold ( the game is forcing me to farm because of that gear system ^^ )
….

I have to admit that, having to farm gear during weeks to try news builds dont motivate me.
Add to that fixed weapons skills, impossible to create new combo – gameplay dynamic except with few traits change ( or it change because of the runes – sigils and gear stat ) make each class limited and its boring quite fast.

A bit like playing magic the gathering only with the started build.. would you find that interesting durings months ?

Humble opinion of someone that spend 6years on GW1 doing tons of test builds.

I play 90% PVE and 10% WvW and have absolutely no interest in PvP (despite my love of HA in GW1). I play all of the classes Warrior, Necro, Ele, Guardian, Ranger equally simply doing my dailies as there are too few players to complete my storylines above level 70. My Thief and Eng are between lv 20-30 as they simply have little small a "survival to damage (which is how success is measured in GW2) " ratio.

Nike.2631:

The reason is this round of threads is supposed to actually come with a primer and some readiness to participate on the part of the Devs… and they’re clearly distracted by something. I’d rather wait 48 hours for clear weather and a clean lift off than to flub the launch.

You think that’s really going to make a difference here? All that really does is buy time for more talking points to be made around how they’ve already made up their minds they’re going to “balance it”. They may not even tell you ahead of time what the plan will involve. But do you even really need to hear that part directly from them? When you already know that it will be a continuation of the same exact approach they’ve been using all this time.

Here’s how it will go:
Lots of fancy words for highly situational (read: Conquest only) mechanics, IE: sustain, underutulize, compress, and some really obscure word for nerfing recharge overall or “equalizing” it between skills to make you think you’re getting a better deal when really the only point of it was to nerf PvP performance some more.

All of which is completely unrelated to PvE & WvW performance and has no bearing at all on the primary drive that the vast majority of their player base feels towards trying to have a viable “Ranger” class. And whether they actually realize it or not, every single thing that every Ranger in this thread keeps begging for, is a NEW CLASS that is separated completely from the “Conquest mode” ranger that currently exists. And they’re just not going to get that because it would require a PvE(which includes WvW) variant of atleast half of the Ranger’s current skills and major pet buffs as well. (or pets becoming buff bots instead)

And that won’t happen because it cuts into their Living Story focus too much.
There’s no room for compromise here. They just won’t do it. They already told us that.
The saddest part, is that this was actually OUR FAULT, not theirs.

Just want to check that this is actually the thread in which to post CDI feedback for the Ranger and Fractals etc or if each topic will be getting its own thread.

The initial post seemed more like an announcement for such a thread, but I haven’t seen any yet.

I…don’t think so?
I kind of thought they usually made a fresh new thread.

csquirrelrun.3108:

Just want to check that this is actually the thread in which to post CDI feedback for the Ranger and Fractals etc or if each topic will be getting its own thread.

The initial post seemed more like an announcement for such a thread, but I haven’t seen any yet.

I assume this is it as Ms. Murdock stated to keep such discussion on this thread relevant to said topics.

Playtime: Post-level 80 approximately 75% WvW, 25% PvE, 0% PvP.

Most-played class: Thief

The ranger struggles across the board in PvE/WvW due to several mechanical problems which plague the class. I will focus mostly on the most disputed topic regarding the class, the Longbow Archer concept, for the rest of the class appears relatively balanced.

The issue which inhibits the success of rangers solely relies on the burden which is the class mechanic: The pet.

Pets are a nice idea, and have been proven to be a very valid class concept in the MMO genre. The problem lies in GW2’s implementation of the pet.

The ranger, as admitted by the developers in “The Making of Guild Wars 2” is a culmination of failed classes: Archer, Warden, and Beastmaster. While combining these is a good idea logically due to flavor reasons as opposed to other classes, the Ranger class is really the only class which successfully fills the role of the Archer in GW2. Simply, bow/longbow are not viable weapon sets due to a resounding number of gap-closing skills all classes possess, the lack of escapes the ranger has, and the pet’s damage throughput and unreliability negatively affect a given archer-based ranger drastically.

Combined with poor pet AI, impossible-to-implement speed/action increases, etc. as admitted by other staff members like Jon Peters, the ranger not only faces less diversity in play styles, but also suffers from what is actually known and admitted by the developers as being an outright broken mechanic which can only be “fixed” by increasing raw stat values.

Ultimately, rangers should be able to choose, as per many other classes based upon their mechanics, whether or not they wish to utilize their class mechanic (the pet), and should not take extreme penalties in attempting to not do so.

To solve such problems, pets need to become OPTIONAL, and players should receive a bonus to their damage values if the pet is stored. Pets should not be allowed to be stored/summoned in combat as to prevent bonus damage juggling with pet aggro in PvE as well as pet DPS/abilities. The ranger should know to enter a fight prepared with a goal in mind. Notice I did not regard heal or utility bonuses. Simply doubling the effects or applying them to the ranger exclusively would be overpowered and render the pet useless and only burdensome. Pets should apply utility, such as mob aggro management and the ability to hit other targets/apply conditions, etc., not be an agent of damage to the extent they are now.

Thus, the trait lines also need extensive rework. Fewer traits outside of the Beastmastery and Nature Magic should be exclusive to pet mechanisms and/or more traits should be applicable only to the ranger with the pet stowed, possibly slightly compensating for such losses in utility.

The beastmastery line should have more potent GrandMaster tier pet benefits and should possibly detract from solo-archer style gameplay as to prevent players from running builds which capitalize on high damage from both pets AND players.

Remorseless/Signet of the Beastmaster need to be reworked exclusively. As it stands, a power/crit ranger would require both of these skills to be considered somewhat viable. Either remorseless needs to be added onto the 25-point trait effects such that signet of the beastmaster is an option for signet builds running power/DPS with another power trait functioning for other builds, or Signet of the Beastmaster needs to be removed entirely and signets should simply apply to either the pet if it is out, or the ranger if the pet is stowed. Because of this exclusivity, signets subsequently need to be buffed.

Rangers then also need another ultimate skill, for Rampage as One is the only viable one for power/crit builds using pets. RoA’s dependency on the pet’s attacks is simply poor design, and immobilize proves very ineffective in WvW or AOE-based encounters due to their easy destruction, as well as requiring very close proximity to the foe (600 range).

Rapid Shot also needs a change, for the DPS it grants has been proven multiple times to be strictly lower than that of attacking regularly, even when taking into account vulnerability stacking.

I was expecting a new topic as well, but, it looks like this is the one so here goes…

I dabble in PvP and WvW now and then, but the vast majority of my playtime is in PvE. I like making new builds and characters so I’m spread across several professions, and wouldn’t really say I have a main one.

Problems
The troubles with the ranger can basically be summed up as such; no other profession is forced to rely so heavily on their class mechanic, and no other profession can have their class mechanic so completely disabled. That’s not a good combination. Many ranger abilities are weaker as “compensation” for the pet, but unless you build focused on it you’re just left as a sub-par character with a dead pet. A huge number of ranger traits and skills are pet-centric compared to other class mechanics, suffocating build variety, and either leaving a character built away from the pet full of holes, or making them even more overdependent on a minimally-controlled and easily lost companion.

Solutions
The pet needs to be something that is seamlessly used with varied builds, instead of feeling so central yet out of your hands. Any thief can benefit from using Steal now and then, but only a thief that’s heavily built around the mechanic will truly suffer for not using it. That sort of “casual advantage” may not be possible for pets without completely rebuilding the mechanic, but they can still be made more of a passive boost for any ranger.

More control is vital, so that the pet can behave in a way befitting whatever build the ranger is. “Protect Me” should be an AI mode, not a utility. In this state the pet draws greater aggro, and the ranger gains some damage reduction. In the aggressive mode it has greater move and attack speed, by which I mean speed of animation more than rate, so that so many melee attacks can’t be easily avoided by just strafing. It would also gain bonus backstab/flanking damage against enemies ignoring it, working with the ranger instead of beside them. Passive pets would not engage in combat, and instead provide a buff that varies with the species.

The last one especially would allow rangers who aren’t focused on the pet to still benefit from the mechanic non-intrusively. I would also recommend being able to heal the pet when it’s downed, to keep it from being so easily taken away. This doesn’t seem imbalanced, as it adds the risk of prematurely setting the skill on cooldown when the ranger may need it next. To further boost the pet’s versatility while filling some of the holes in other builds, some pet-oriented traits could be tied to these modes, such as by boosting flanking damage or passive buffs.

That can’t be right, it’s supposed to be moderated by different people.

This is just the announcement thread. Dress rehearsal and player-to-player discussion. I wouldn’t assume a Skills & Balance team Dev is reading any of this.

Nike.2631:

This is just the announcement thread. Dress rehearsal and player-to-player discussion. I wouldn’t assume a Skills & Balance team Dev is reading any of this.

Yeah, ppl can be so silly some times.

They’ve had over a year of feedback to listen to and act on if they were ever intending to do that.

Want them to actually fix things? Stop buying Gems.

So where are those new CDI topics?

PVE: How would you like to see us evolve Fractals?

Just end up with Agony. I doesn’t add anything interestinf in hte dungeon since if you are enought stuffed, you don"t suffer on it.
It’s only a pain for those players who don’t play enough to be stuffed with ascended.

To improve fractal, improve: time to spend on it, goals, difficulty, and reward.
It would be interresting to choose doing 1 fractal to 4 fractals. Now we must do the 4 to have rewards…

WvW: What aspects of Edge of The Mists do you think could carry over to the rest of WvW and how?

WWW is a pain: only bus can survive. The WWW system don’t allow enough interest on defending transport, camps, etc… Make them more needed by oofense and defense and you will see some real WWW appearing (just see the TESO RvR…)

Bonus: Global: Professions: How would you like to see us evolve Ranger balance?- Owner- Allie Murdock

Just rewrite the class from the beginning: warrior/thief are better bow users, pets are totally broken, etc….

ps: on your previous CDI you asked for the 3 class whiwh need to evolve.

Why do you talk only on ranger? What about the other two?

I hope we won’t wait for 2 year to see class evolve….because there will be no player left IG to see it.

In regards to the ranger, how about this improvement: Remove the ability of enemies to turn invincible and heal back to full health, just because they can’t reach the player. It’s stupid, and defeats the purpose entirely of ranged combat. What ever happened to having the higher ground? This used to be a great advantage in GW1, but in GW2 it is rendered completely useless, and even counter productive.

Just to put this in context, GW1 didn’t even have a z-axis, nor did it have jumping, but you COULD make use of a height advantage. How can it be that a game that DOES have a z-axis, and jumping, makes a height difference completely useless?

Hrm, interesting point. If height directly affected the range of arcing attacks and thrown objects (and beam-attacks were in some way restricted, say only arcing attacks have a base range of 1200, everything else is 1000 or less), then keep warfare could be very different in WvW, too.

MQM and Carighan:- you’re onto something, although I doubt it is in the core mechanics of the game engine. I won’t expect it to be fixed/improved upon.

ZeftheWicked.3076:

So where are those new CDI topics?

Starts Wednesday.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/The-New-CDI-Topics/page/3#post3648144

This thread slipped through and didn’t get shut down with the other three.

nicolas.9045:

ps: on your previous CDI you asked for the 3 class whiwh need to evolve.

Why do you talk only on ranger? What about the other two?

Because it was a vote to determine which one goes first.

If we don’t wreck this opportunity too badly, more will follow.

Give us the option to stow the pet in combat.

If the pet is stowed, the ranger gets one class specific ability of the pet as F2, and a slightly bonus to one attribute. Bear: 160 vitality, Drake:160 toughness, etc… The special abilities can be:

Your attacks inflict bleeding for 10 seconds (30 sec cooldown)
Your next attack causes blind (20 sec cooldown)
Your next attack puts you in stealth for 3 seconds (40 sec cooldown)
etc…

If the pet is not stowed it can uses the current abilities. The ranger looses the stowed boons and abilities.

Put the stowed and not-stowed traits in the Beastmaster trait line… Like: if you release your pet, you keep the passive boon for 5 seconds. Something like this…

Oh, and make the pet fire the F2 instantly, give them dodge or permanent AE reduction and basic 25% movement speed and increased range. Such you don’t have to change the AI code and you can make us happy.

-99,9% PvE
-Berserker Gear in all Toons (8)
-Mesmer, GS, S/S, S/P, S/F

I love the Ranger concept to begin with, BUT:

a)-Rangers are atm very dependable on pets with bad AI
b)-Pets NEED improvements (armor*, stat choice, evolution*, customize*)
c)-Utility skills are bad cause one of the following: Bad Duration, Bad Cooldown
d)-Traits are in general not benefiting usual builds (pet, trap, ranged, meele)
e)-Traits and Utility are in general not making focused builds viable.
f)-Bad options of medium armor on the game.*
g) Why Rifle and Pistol aren’t options?*

*I believe Cosmetics appeal influence at least 60% in general like and dislike issues.

And possible power-ups would be:

a)-Work on Pet Ai.

b)-Let them evolve once or twice, getting exp per use on batlle and let us choose the stat spec they will get. By doing this we could collect them and evolve each one for different usage on different situations. Aside from creating relationship with them.

c)-Utility skills are bad cause one of the following: Bad Duration, Bad Cooldown
It’s not the skills are bad on core, but they seems all like bad choices either cause their dont last long or cause using them would require several minutes on CD.
Ex: Traps could be permanent with time procs, making them awesome in many situations.
Ex: Pet Shouts could recharge a lot faster, making them interesting counter measures.

d)-Traits are in general not benefiting usual builds (pet, trap, ranged, meele)
Ex: Marksmanship, 6 of 12 trait skills are about pet and conditions, they should be moved or erased for new skills that are on other trait lines.
Ex:Skirmish, 8 of 12 trait skills are about traps and pets!!!! Again, moved or deleted.
Ex:BeastMastery, once pets have bad AI and low stats, this is not viable at all.

e)-Traits and Utility are in general not making focused builds viable.
Ex: For a Ranged DPS, there’s only 2 utilities that will actually help: SickEm and Zhephyr. Which both are about DPS. Something like “All arrows will cripple”, “30% chance of double-shoot”. “Knockback for arrows” = Preparations from GW1 are in need.
Ex:For a PET build, some nice interaction with pets: “Pet holds all agroo”, “Pet interrupt nearby foes”, that are good counter measures. The current Shouts are bad.
Ex:For a TRAP build, some improvements for traps, like time procs, manual activation. Traps suggest u would prepare for a situation in order to gain advantages. Atm its just low AoE damage that needs to be used before a fight. Not usable at all. I beleive the points in traps are to change terrain and give awesome effects (dont need damage at all).

f)-Bad options of medium armor on the game.*
Its just a cosmetic thing, but i believe its matters a lot, from 1 to 80 in bad looks makes u feel like missing something, which contributes to the general bad feeling about rangers. (underpowered, ugly)

g) Why Rifle and Pistol aren’t options?*
They should be open for Ranger, period.

I would love to be back at my ranger, but it really add’s nothing to a group, im forced into feline’s cause i want crits/dmg in most of time. And it was very ugly(now he is pretty with t3 armor, absurd expensive tough).

“g) Why Rifle and Pistol aren’t options?*”

i dont like the idea about give ranger weapons like rifle or pistol.
for the aspect of fantasy. for me they dont feel like weapons for a ranger who prefers to be in the wildness instead of in towns.

if he get a new weapon it should be for me a spear (2 ranged skills 2 melee skills. auto attack is melee or range dont know)

well spear would be awesome, but for sure its to much work to create new weapons :P

RANGER:

The first thing that should be decided is what is the concept of a ranger.

A. Is it primarily a pet class?
B. Is it primarily to be a ranged class?
C. Is it primarily tied to crowd control, conditions or physical damage?

What is the basic model for how it should be played?
What should it be best in game at?
What should be its known weaknesses?

Imagine it like this “The ranger hunts with his loyal pets to protect Tyria and his realm. Masters of the bow they soften targets from range with debilitating shots making their targets lose initiative and be more vulnerable before swooping in to finish them in close combat.” The ranger appeals to those wanting long ranged single target attacks that do high damage and have great CC followed by a very evade and “juke” style of melee combat". Rangers are the principal pet class with more damage, utility and traits tied to their loyal friend.

RANGER ISSUE: Pet damage.
The key should be less that the pet DOES the damage but that having a pet alive increases the damage and utility of the ranger. In other words, I would tone down the damage that the pet does and replace that damage to the ranger. HOWEVER, should the pet die, the rangers damage would go down. A good starting point would be to take 1/2 the damage of the ranger’s pet and return it to the ranger.

RANGER ISSUE: Pet AI and Utility
Given the troubles with Pet F2 abilities in PvP and WvW and the corresponding game breaking potential in tweaking AI which is also pet PvE behavior, I propose adding a bit of additional utility to pets. Having a LIVE pet of each different class should provide a stat bonus to the ranger. This would be a quick fix to F2 abilities that often just don’t trigger quite right. Birds add precision. Felines add condition damage. Etc.

raubvogel.5071:

Bonus: Global: Professions: How would you like to see us evolve (profession: voting is currently underway) balance?- Owner- Allie Murdock

Warrior is in the best shape. In offensive and defensive way! Powerful traits in the right trait line. Highest Health. Powerful support skills and elite skills (eg signet, banner). Good damage mitigation etc.

How would i evolve it. I would give every profession the highest health since i do not see a reason why it should be profession based. After that i would create offensive and defensive skills in the way the warrior has them but in that particular definition fitting the targeted profession (eg mesmer).

Example:
Warrior (benchmark): Signet of Wrath 30s fury, 30s 5^ might, 30s swiftness
Guardian (target): Signet of the holy fire: 30s fury, 30s fire damage on crit, 30s swiftness
Thief (target): Signet of tormention: 30s fury, 30s 1^ torment on crit, 30s swiftness

Every profession should have the same potential in regards of mobility, damage, offensive and defensive support but also tied to their unique profession. So they have to be the same but different.

Perfect. I would say that some classes give too many conditions, while others are immune too easily. Should not be possible to have several types of builds for each class? (E.g. , Necromancer’s Handbook and deficient in build direct damage).

Ita:
Direi che alcune classi danno troppe condizioni, mentre altre ne sono immuni troppo facilmente. Non dovrebbero essere possibili più tipi di build per ogni classe? (es. Necromante è carente in build danno diretto).

Ideas for Ranger:

1: Insert in Beastmastery a trait points lower, that will grant the use of the companion animal(so as to allow build without companion).

2: Improve IA of the companion animal.

3: Improve shout and traps (not very effective).

4: Revise trait: Hunter’s tactics (hardly usable weapons with long-range).

5: Improving skills F2 of some animal friends (e.g. , Terrestrial and Amphibious). Make available 2 different statistics for each companion animal 1: Power, Precision and Crit damage (decent), 2: Toughness, Vitality and Boon duration (decent).

Idee per Ranger:

1: Inserire in Beastmastery un trait points minore, che conceda l’utilizzo del compagno animale(cosi da consentire build senza compagno).

2: Migliorare IA del compagno animale.

3: Migliorare shout e trap (poco efficaci).

4: Rivedere trait: Hunter’s tactics (difficilmente utilizzabile con armi a lungo raggio).

5: Migliorare le abilità F2 di alcuni compagni animali (es. Terrestrial e Amphibious). Rendere disponibili 2 differenti statistiche per ogni compagno animale 1: Power, Precision e Crit damage (decenti), 2: Toughness, Vitality e Boon duration (decenti).

Nike.2631:

ZeftheWicked.3076:

So where are those new CDI topics?

Starts Wednesday.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/The-New-CDI-Topics/page/3#post3648144

This thread slipped through and didn’t get shut down with the other three.

Quoting this just to contrast it against how many people will completely miss it and keep posting bad ideas that will never be considered b/c they can’t follow simple instructions

Dave Pare.2069:

PART 3

WEAPONS: there are 2 weapons that really need to be looked at and improved, Longbow and Greatsword, these are my suggestions:

LONGBOW:
*1 (Long range shot): adding a few more damages at max range (1000+) would be nice (10-20%?) or maybe the Cripple condi. on a successful hit.

I seriously hope you’re joking. Cripple on auto attack is an absurd idea.

THIS IS THE WRONG THREAD. STOP POSTING IDEAS HERE.

Stogzlol.4795:

Dave Pare.2069:

PART 3

WEAPONS: there are 2 weapons that really need to be looked at and improved, Longbow and Greatsword, these are my suggestions:

LONGBOW:
*1 (Long range shot): adding a few more damages at max range (1000+) would be nice (10-20%?) or maybe the Cripple condi. on a successful hit.

I seriously hope you’re joking. Cripple on auto attack is an absurd idea.

Oh I could name you a few weapons who are already absurd in your estimation.
So I see no problem there.

Hey there
I am playing 80% PvE and 20% WvW. Basicly doing daily things (Tequatl, fractals and Achievements) and directly go to WvW for some bow action.

Main problems I came across on PvE is;
1) Pets do love red circles: For example, the encounter with Captain Mai Trin at the end of a fractal run. It is imposible for my pet to survive the “Unleash the cannons” part and when it dies, i am forced to play my second pet for 59 seconds. I am almost certanly lose the second pet too, in the process of killing Mai resulting a broken pet change cycle for the rest of the boss fight.

2)Sword Problems: My main hand sword killed me more than any other thing in the game. I die a bit every time my party send to Thaumanova Reactor or Uncategorized Fractal. Not being able do broke sword#1 chain and staying in the enemy aoe is terrible.

3)Bow Problems: There is some hate against longbow/bear rangers and I totally understand the reason behind this. So i thought, maybe if Fortifying Bond worked both ways, bow builds would be more viable. A pet in front can share boons with the ranger in the back. The boons ranger get from the bond can be a bit weaker in duration for balance issues. This would also grant great synergy with, for example Companion’s might or Bountiful Hunter.

4)For WvW: I do agree there should be improvement on longbow skills, signets and shouts. Longbow is too hard to maintain; you often have to fall behind your zerg to do optimum damage and with evade and gap closer skills, it fails its purpose to do long range damage. Signets are giving benefits to only pets and pets often get killed in crossfire within a few seconds. And shouts are, not good compared to warrior or guardian shouts. If warrior shouts are offensive and guardian shouts are defensive, ranger shouts should be based on utility giving vigor and swiftness.

Stogzlol.4795:

Dave Pare.2069:

PART 3

WEAPONS: there are 2 weapons that really need to be looked at and improved, Longbow and Greatsword, these are my suggestions:

LONGBOW:
*1 (Long range shot): adding a few more damages at max range (1000+) would be nice (10-20%?) or maybe the Cripple condi. on a successful hit.

I seriously hope you’re joking. Cripple on auto attack is an absurd idea.

you’re right, I planned to change that but then I forgot to do it…what I think would be balanced is to change long range shot in a chain skill that cripples every third hit (1-2 sec, not thinking of a perma-cripple auto attack), leaving the cast time of every single shot as it is right now.

I was suggesting such a change in order to re-think a weapon that should be designed for kiting but in fact is terrible at keeping opponents away from you; but yes, I think adding cripple to auto attack would be a good change.

Hello Madam Murdock, I’m just going to say this one thing because I feel everything else that needs to be done with rangers has already been stated hundreds of times by now (which is good).

Remove Spirits Unbound, balance spirit skills around an exclusive stationary form, then have fun replacing the trait.